The Issues
Modern Christianity has faced many changes and philosophical differences, Liberalism, Evangelicalism, and Neo-Orthodoxy being the theological movements of note. Each of these have a different methods regarding the view of the importance and authority of Scripture. The first of these views is Liberalism which arose in the 1800s, and viewed Christianity as outdated and in need of modernization, seeing that things such as culture, reason, science, and experience were needed to combat the authority of revelation and Scripture. Lane highlights in his book that, “Liberals are prepared to sacrifice many elements of traditional Christian orthodoxy in their search for contemporary relevance.” This can be seen in the form of Liberal Christians’
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And while, the covers multiple areas of belief, the most simplistic explanation stated by Olson when he says, “They rejected both liberal elevation of human experience to a source and norm of theology and fundamentalist treatment of the Bible as a paper pope.” And while this response was an improvement over the Liberal theology, it was not itself correct in many ways as well. Neo-orthodoxy rejects in many ways rational apologetics, vehemence, and natural theology, believing in a more restricted way of thinking which ties itself to the culture of the time. Other areas which Neo-orthodoxy fails is in its view of faith as irrational as well as disregarding the historical figure of Jesus for merely a spiritual view of …show more content…
Modern society, with its current evolving system of values and changing ideals requires those with firm beliefs to weather the shifting sands of modern Christianity. For examples, if you take, the more Liberal approach to the current gender argument, you will find it very difficult to differentiate yourself from society and instead of serving God you will find your values shifting to suit the needs of the society around you.
Furthermore, in respect to the systems of government, a more liberal or neo-orthodoxical approach might cause more conflict or be a cause for Christians to submit the authority of man rather than to the authority of God. With issues regarding transgenderism, racism, nationalism, and other issues which seem to cause political unrest, it is more important than ever that Christians hold fast to the Christian doctrine rather than shifting to the popular opinion of the day to try and remain
In The Battle for the Mind, which was published in 1980, LaHaye discusses how conservative Christians could “take back America” around a conservative political agenda, and from the standpoint of the field of anthropology, focuses on the struggle with modernity among those who reject it, although LaHaye was unlikely to be thinking in those terms. In this book, LaHaye clearly identifies what he sees as the real enemy of American Christians. He uses the phrase “secular humanism” to describe the enemy, but gives it a new conspiratorial definition. Simply defined, humanism is man’s attempt to solve his problems independently of God. According to LaHaye, humanism seems so credible and logical to the man who does not understand God’s wisdom, that it is adopted readily by the masses. He also believes that today’s wave of crime and violence can be laid right at the door of secular humanism.
Evangelicalism by its very nature is hard to define. In fact, Douglas Sweeney, Chair of the Church History and the History of Christian Thought Department at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School states, “precious little consensus exists among those who have tried to describe the evangelical movement.” Nevertheless, Sweeney does an excellent attempt by briefly explicating the diverse history of the evangelical movement in his book, The American Evangelical Story: A History of the Movement. Sweeney, a Lutheran and expert in American religion and culture not only introduces
Square Peg: Why Wesleyans Aren't Fundamentalists, a book edited by Al Truesdale and published by Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, examines two significantly different ways of understanding the nature and role of the Bible that mark different parts of Christ’s church. The first is represented by fundamentalism; the second by Wesleyan theology. The goal of the book is to help persons in Wesleyan denominations clearly understand the differences between Wesleyan theology and fundamentalist theology, and that even though both are of the Christian faith, how the theology between the two are incompatible with one another. “Without becoming divisive or claiming perfection in Christian doctrine, the various denominations hold theological positions that reflect their Christian experience, history and understanding of the Scriptures.” (loc 124 Kindle, Truesdale) Wesleyans believe that the proof of the gospel reside primarily in how a person lives their life and “not in logic and argumentation.” (loc 160 Kindle, Truesdale) They support the policy of that to get a better understanding of their faith, is the result of all fields of human exploration and research, from scientific to historical.
New brands of distinctly American Christianity began developing early in the country’s history. Before the revolution, George Whitefield set the stage for American religious movements. The most important factor that helped launch these movements was the American Revolution. The country was ripe with conversation and action on a new understanding of freedom. The revolution “expanded the circle of people who considered themselves capable of thinking for themselves about issues of … equality, sovereignty, and representation” (6). The country was beginning to move toward an understanding of strength lying in the common people, and the people’s ability to make their own personal decisions on issues of leadership and authority. There was a common belief that class structure was the major societal problem. The revolution created the an open environment that pushed equality of the individual, allowing political and religious beliefs to flourish and grow without being held in check by authoritarian leaders.
In the essay "Worldviews in Conflict," Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey compare and contrast the ideas of Christianity and the views of today's society. Throughout the essay they provide information about how the changes in society affect views regarding Christianity. Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcy's essay was written to contribute information so others could understand their views about the shifting cultural context and how it affects society's beliefs.
In an allegedly postmodern world, when looking at tolerance for ideologies other than our own is said to be the only absolute and controlling ideology. Inasmuch, as its doctrine of “sin” suggests that all humans are inherently flawed; Christianity is often viewed as judgmental and intolerant of others. Granted the approach of a certain Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas pushes the extreme that makes all Christians cringe in this area. Christians should not be embarrassed of the doctrine of sin today. Moreover, Christianity should not try to soften what it says about the human condition to be more readily acceptable to a broader world. This world needs help, guidance, and rules if we are to succeed as a human race.
King says that these two theories are inadequate. Man needs a reason as much as he needs God. Liberalism was too sentimental concerning human nature and that it leaned toward a false idealism. On the other hand he says that neo-orthodoxy fell as the mood of anti-rationalism and semi-fundamentalism , ( stressing a narrow biblicism).
The term Wesleyan Quadrilateral is a theological method used to study scripture. It was believed that theologian John Wesley studied scriptures in the Bible using three lenses, hence where the Wesleyan Quadrilateral gets its name. These three lenses are tradition, reason, and experience. While quad means four and tradition, reason, and experience are only three terms, they each communicate a way that scripture can be studied, therefore the term scripture completes the quadrilateral. It is important to study scripture using the Wesleyan Quadrilateral because Wesley was known as being a relevant theologian and his views on scripture have lasted over two centuries. The Wesleyan quadrilateral is still relevant today as it provides a method for discovering the things of God, ourselves, and lets us know who God really is. For the purposes of this reflection paper I would like to summarize the four components of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral and then reflect personally upon each term as how it relates to the Christian theologian.
but I believe the problem is not purely rooted in people straying away from Christian ideology, but more so the inability for people of different beliefs to respect and collaborate with each other. So often we hear an idea from a political party that we do not identify with, and so easily shut down that idea or opinion due to the fact that it is different than our own. The reason this is such a big deal is that it is affecting Americans of all different economic, cultural, and religious backgrounds. Let me try and illustrate this connection
Square Peg” is an informative book edited by Al Trusdale and published by “Beacon Hill Press.” In Square Peg, each of the chapters are written by different Authors, who wrote about their different views of how differently Wesleyans and Fundamentalist view the Bible. The Authors all make a point that the Wesleyans and Fundamentalist have similar views in some subject matter, but fundamentally they different at their core. Which makes it not possible for an individual to believe in both prospectives of the Bible without creating something entirely new. This book makes an argument that saying that the Wesleyans prospective is more effective in in expressing the ideas and teachings of the Bible compared to Fundamentalist. This book coveys its argument by describing the difference of views in their theology, doctrine, and the Wesleyan Quadrilateral.
Church History in Plain Language is written by Bruce L. Shelley. This work focuses on the history of Christianity from 6 B.C. to the current period. It covers some of Christianity’s greatest events, theologians, and the various subsection of Christianity. Other than the events leading up to the death of Jesus, I had very little knowledge of Christianity’s history. After reading through the book, I have gained understanding on the Christian Councils, scholasticism, Christendom, and modern trends of Christianity.
Throughout history there have been a few prominent epistemologies and we are currently witnessing a one become increasingly prevalent – postmodernism. When Christians are confronted with ideologies of postmodernism, one of two reactions occurs. They either select aspects of postmodernity that can be assimilated into Christian thinking, or they believe the entirety of the postmodern movement to conflict with Christian beliefs and values. On the positive side, postmodernity does have a few aspects that correspond well with Christian values.
The nature of Scripture and the authority of Scripture are two characteristics carefully entwined in such a way that creates an impossibility for them to not affect each other. They directly influence each other. Evangelicalism, Liberalism, and Neo-Orthodoxy all have differing views of the nature and authority of Scripture. Evangelicalism takes up the view that the Bible, Scripture, is infallible (Lane, 2006, p. 255). Scripture is God’s word and is therefore fully truth (Lane, 2006, p. 256). People under Evangelicalism equate Scripture with God’s spoken word, and they believe that though God and humans are both authors, the human author was divinely prepared by God to write out His word (Lane, 2006, p. 257). They believe that “the Bible is the supreme authority for faith and practice” (Bingham, 2002, p. 162). Liberalism takes a different view on the Scripture. In Liberalism, religion is “nothing but feeling and experience” (Lane, 2006, p. 238). This reduces the authority and value of Scripture. Scripture is not seen as God’s word or His revelation but as a written record of the experiences of humans, which takes away from its divinity and authority (Lane, 2006, p. 239). Schleiermacher, the father of Liber...
Guided primarily in later years by the Christian faith and the promotion of such, Western Civilization has struggled for hundreds of year to justify political positions with Biblical standpoints. Dominating world politics, and controlling much of the global economy, the West maintains its authority as a world
Lutzer, Erwin. The Doctrines That Divide: a Fresh Look at the Historic Doctrines That Separate Christians. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1998.